Judge orders Microsoft to remove Java logo

In a major legal victory for Sun Microsystems, a federal judge on Tuesday
demanded that Microsoft remove the Java logo from Windows, Internet
Explorer, and any other products that use the language. The ruling was
issued by U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte in San Jose, California.

Last Fall, Sun filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, saying that its use of
the Java logo on Internet Explorer 4.0 was illegal since IE failed Sun's
Java compatibility tests. Microsoft says it will comply with the order but
will continue its fight.

"This is really just a minor skirmish in the bigger war about who is
complying with this contract and who is not," said Microsoft's Tom Burt.
"Once all the facts are heard, we will prevail." Microsoft's Todd Nielson,
general manager for developer relations, agrees. "This preliminary ruling
has no impact on any of our products," he said. "As far as the bits the
developers use or download from the Web, it has no impact on the product."

Sun, however, was pretty excited about the ruling.

"This is good news for consumers, for software developers, and for our
customers and licensees," said Michael H. Morris, Sun's vice president and
general counsel. "This is about a trademark and our insistence that
products labeled as Java-compatible satisfy Sun's requirements for use of
its logo.